Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity

Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity
Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity
Perquimans County, North Carolina
	Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity
Coordinates	36°06′N76°20′W / 36.1°N 76.33°W
Site information
Owner	U.S. Department of Defense
Open to; the public	No
Condition	Fully operational
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1942–1946; 1958–present
Garrison information
Occupants	Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ; Central Intelligence Agency ; Federal Bureau of Investigation ; United States Navy ;
Airfield information
Identifiers	FAA LID: NC01
Elevation	10 feet (3 m) AMSL
Runways
03/21	5,291 feet (1,613 m) Asphalt
	Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Last updated February 27, 2024

The Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity facility, owned by the Department of Defense, is located on a peninsula in Perquimans County, North Carolina, along Albemarle Sound, near the town of Hertford, NC. It was established in World War II as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Harvey Point, an operating base for sea planes conducting anti-submarine surveillance off the Atlantic coast. A close by naval facility, Naval Air Station Weeksville, served as a blimp base from 1941 to 1957, while another former naval air facility remains active as Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.

To comply with various procurement regulations, the Department of the Navy holds the title to and budgetary responsibility for the facility. Agencies such as the ATF, CIA, and FBI have used the facility for complex training relating to overseas counterterrorism and asset-protection training.^[2] It has a sister facility in Virginia called Camp Peary.

History

The point was originally occupied during the 1670s by the Harvey family, including North Carolina's first native-born governor, Thomas Harvey—hence the name "Harvey Point".^[2]

World War II

Courthouse records indicate that in November 1942 the United States Navy purchased the point, roughly 1,200 acres (5 km²), for $41,751. The Navy then constructed an air station on the property for use during World War II, and commissioned it as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Harvey Point. During World War II, NAAS Harvey Point was used as a PBM Mariner seaplane base.^[3]

After the war, NAAS Harvey Point was decommissioned in 1946 and remained deactivated until 1958 when the Navy announced that Harvey Point would serve as the testing grounds for the new Martin P6M Seamaster, an experimental jet-powered long-range seaplane bomber. The project was cancelled in August 1959 when the Navy determined the aircraft wasn't successful enough for it to continue providing support for the program. Then, in 1961, the Navy returned to the property, and announced that the property was closed to the public; it has remained that way ever since.

Current use

Specialty military air operations are located at this facility, as the installation has two usable landing fields, and plans for a third. The FAA Charlotte Sectional Aeronautical Chart identifies this area as Special Use Airspace R-5301, which is continuously restricted from general aviation traffic from the surface to an altitude of 14,000 feet above Mean Sea Level. Areas of Albemarle Sound adjacent to the facility are also under restricted airspace R-5302 (A-D), which is under the operational authority of GIANT KILLER, or whichever ATC has controlling authority over the airspace at that time. Harvey Point is also used for CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) paramilitary and counter-terrorism courses that involve high explosives and ballistics. The explosives are used to simulate terrorist bombs, and can be heard for miles in the surrounding communities.^[2]

It was also used by DEVGRU (a.k.a. "SEAL Team Six") to train for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, in a scale mockup of his secret compound.^[4]^[5]

Related Research Articles

Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon, east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996, it has been home to the U.S. Navy-Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) taking over from the former NAS Miramar, California, and the surrounding area contains 240,000 acres (97,000 ha) of bombing and electronic warfare ranges. It is also home to the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC), which includes TOPGUN, the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School (CAEWWS) and the Navy Rotary Wing Weapons School. Navy SEAL Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) training also takes place there.

Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installations Command, and was originally known as Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS).

Naval Air Station Alameda was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.

Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island, at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (NBC), and the home port of several aircraft carriers of the United States Navy.

Camp Peary is an approximately 9,000 acre U.S. military reservation in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia. Officially referred to as an Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity (AFETA) under the authority of the Department of Defense, Camp Peary hosts a covert CIA training facility known as "The Farm", which is used to train officers of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, as well as those of the DIA's Defense Clandestine Service, among other intelligence entities. Its facilities are also available to the members of the intelligence community for "off-site" activities such as conferences and working groups. Camp Peary has a sister facility, "The Point", located in Hertford, North Carolina.

Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City is a United States Coast Guard Air Station co-located at Elizabeth City Regional Airport in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, along the Pasquotank River near the opening of the Albemarle Sound. The base has a garrison of approximately 855 officers and enlisted. The Coast Guard air station is also one of the busiest in the U.S. Coast Guard, operating missions as far away as Greenland, the Azores and the Caribbean.

Naval Air Station Key West, is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States.

Northeastern Regional Airport is a public use airport in Chowan County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the town of Edenton and located three nautical miles (6 km) southeast of its central business district. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

Dare County Regional Airport is a public airport located one mile (2 km) northwest of the central business district (CBD) of Manteo, a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. This general aviation airport covers 340 acres (138 ha) and has two runways.

Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (NALF) San Clemente Island, also known as Frederick Sherman Field, is a military airport located on San Clemente Island, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It has been owned by the United States Navy since 1937.

Naval Air Station Cecil Field or NAS Cecil Field was a United States Navy air base, located in Duval County, Florida. Prior to October 1999, NAS Cecil Field was the largest military base in terms of acreage in the Jacksonville, Florida area.

Naval Outlying Landing Field (NOLF) Imperial Beach is a United States Navy facility for helicopters, situated on 1,204 acres (5 km²) approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of San Diego and within the city limits of Imperial Beach, California. It is known as "The Helicopter Capital of the World".

Northeast Florida Regional Airport, is located approximately four miles (6 km) north of historic St. Augustine, in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. NFRA serves as a key connection point for air travel in the Northeast Florida region. It is a public airport managed by the St. Johns County Airport Authority on behalf of the citizens of St. Johns County. Airport facilities include both commercial and general aviation terminals.

Witham Field is a public-use airport located 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the central business district of the city of Stuart in Martin County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned.

Naval Station Treasure Island is a former United States Navy facility that operated on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay from 1942 to 1997.

Naval Auxiliary Air Station Hollister is a former United States Navy air station.

Naval Air Station New Iberia, located near New Iberia, Louisiana, was a short-lived training facility of the United States Navy which operated for a mere five years in the 1960s. The naval base at New Iberia was actually designated NAAS, indicating that it was a Naval Auxiliary Air Station. The U.S. Navy airfield identifier for New Iberia was KNIL.

Joint Base Charleston is a United States military facility located partly in the City of North Charleston, South Carolina and partly in the City of Goose Creek, South Carolina. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 628th Air Base Wing, Air Mobility Command (AMC).

VPB-214 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron Two Hundred Fourteen (VP-214) on 18 October 1943, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Fourteen (VPB-214) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 21 June 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">US Naval Advance Bases</span> Overseas US Naval Bases

US Naval Advance Bases were built globally by the United States Navy during World War II to support and project U.S. naval operations worldwide. A few were built on Allied soil, but most were captured enemy facilities or completely new. Advance bases provided the fleet with support to keep ships tactically available with repair and supply depots of facilities, rather than return them to the continental United States. Before Japan declared war on the United States the U.S. Navy had a single fleet-sized advanced base in the Territory of Hawaii at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. During the war the U.S. Navy Seabees built over 400 advance bases categorized by size. Naval bases were either Lions or Cubs while airfields were either Oaks or Acorns. Lions and Oaks were major facilities while Cubs and Acorns were minor. PT Boats typically would get a Cub and airfields with single runways were Acorns. The larger bases could do refueling and overhaul; loading of troopship and cargo ships; and preparing amphibious assault ships. Some became major repair depots. The Seabees developed auxiliary floating drydocks were able to repair battle damage and do regular maintenance in the field saving ships trans-pacific trips for repair. A few bases also were developed to be R and R for all U.S. personnel. Most Advance Bases were built by the US Navy's Seabees in Naval Construction Battalions (CBs). At the start of the war civilian contractors were employed in construction. The Seabees in World War II built most of the airfields used by the United States Army Air Forces and United States Marine Corps, as they had the ships and cranes needed to transport the vast amount of equipment needed at the advance bases. The US Army and United States Coast Guard also operated out of many of these facilities. Seabees could build new or repair damaged runways, and with advancements in heavy bomber technology lengthen runways as needed. A few Naval Advance Bases were built for the Korean War and Vietnam War.

References

↑ FAA Airport Form 5010 for NC01 PDF , retrieved 2022-02-10
1 2 3 Weiner, Tim (March 20, 1998). "Is the Explosion-Noisy Base a C.I.A. Spy School? What Base?". The New York Times . Retrieved April 4, 2013.
↑ Freeman, Paul. "Harvey Point Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Harvey Point, NC". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields.
↑ Farber, Dan (May 25, 2012). "Bing map shows CIA's secret Bin Laden compound mock-up". CNET News . Retrieved October 10, 2012.
↑ Hudson, John (February 15, 2011). "Satellite Images of the CIA's Secret Bin Laden Training Facility". The Atlantic Wire . Retrieved October 10, 2012.

External links

Elliston, Jon (June 5, 2002). "Bomb School". INDY Week. Durham, North Carolina . Retrieved June 3, 2019.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[FAA-1] FAA Airport Form 5010 for NC01 PDF , retrieved 2022-02-10

[Noisy-2] 1 2 3 Weiner, Tim (March 20, 1998). "Is the Explosion-Noisy Base a C.I.A. Spy School? What Base?". The New York Times . Retrieved April 4, 2013.

[3] Freeman, Paul. "Harvey Point Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Harvey Point, NC". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields.

[4] Farber, Dan (May 25, 2012). "Bing map shows CIA's secret Bin Laden compound mock-up". CNET News . Retrieved October 10, 2012.

[5] Hudson, John (February 15, 2011). "Satellite Images of the CIA's Secret Bin Laden Training Facility". The Atlantic Wire . Retrieved October 10, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]